How to Keep Your Operating Costs Down

Managing operating costs is an integral aspect of running a business. The higher they are, the smaller the margin on each generated sale. This limits the amount of cash available to invest in business-growing activities. While some outgoings such as overheads will be fixed and difficult to reduce, variable operating costs can be lowered through enhanced synergy of physical and digital mailing processes.

Businesses need to communicate with their customers, prospects, suppliers and other stakeholders. The most effective way of contacting them depends on different factors, such as their preference and the message being conveyed. This means communication requirements are always changing and businesses must be able to utilise whatever channel best suits each individual correspondence.

The Financial Impact of Sticking With One Channel

Many tend to rely too heavily on one channel. Businesses might only use email and invest heavily in online assets to ensure recipients are engaged; but, what happens if recipients would rather receive items physically and don’t actually click on links? The investment isn’t completely necessary and money could be spent more effectively.

Similarly, if companies rely too much on physical post, documents have to be printed, enveloped and posted, while pre-printed correspondence has to be stored – each process has a cost.

How Understanding Preferences Cuts Costs

With a range of communication channels available, recipients have more choice about how they want to be contacted. For example, instead of receiving invoices via the post, customers may prefer them sent via email as it suits their own processes more. Likewise, some consumers would rather have correspondence sent physically as it feels more personal.

By understanding how each customer wants to be contacted, businesses are able to use the most effective channel straightaway. There’s no expenditure on unnecessary activities and engagement and satisfaction will increase as customers feel valued.

Web-based Output Management Software

The outgoing communications process can be made more streamlined through the adoption of Output Management Software (OMS), which automates workflows. When communications are processed manually it takes time and effort, limiting the resources available. Moreover, a consistent requirement for human involvement increases the likelihood of errors which may result in remediation costs.

Another benefit of such software is that all outgoing correspondence, regardless of the channel, is scanned and archived securely in the cloud. There it can be accessed and retrieved from anywhere with an internet connection, alleviating some of the need for physical storage while also providing businesses with assurances around data security.